A group of friends at the University of Edinburgh came up with the idea for lighting company Tala while working a summer job together (they were installing solar panels on the roof of an eco-conscious winery in Portugal). One friend suggested that the architect specify LED lighting to add to the project’s eco-cred, but the architect balked due to a lack of good-looking options on the market. After a years-long exploration into production processes and lighting technology, the four founders launched Tala in 2015 with a line of Edison-inspired LED bulbs and the tagline, “Conservation through beauty.” Three years on, London-based Tala offers three distinct lines of designer LED bulbs, including a hand-blown stunner called Voronoi. Let’s take a look.
Photography courtesy of Tala.
Above: Tala’s most artistic LED light on offer, the Voronoi collection of tinted, hand-blown glass bulbs, is modeled after the growth pattern found in forest canopies. “We created a 3-D model of the pattern, and smoothed its edges to simulate natural erosion over time,” the designers say, resulting in an irregularly shaped bulb that’s “carved by nature.” The Voronoi I bulb shown here is five inches wide by almost seven inches tall (£80), and shown with the Oak Knuckle Pendant (£100) and Oak Touch Lamp (£120), both made of FSC-certified American oak wood. Tala’s LED bulbs last 15 times longer than a traditional incandescent bulb—15,000 to 30,000 hours on average—and use only 10 percent of the electricity. Above: Tala says its Voronoi III bulb, which is eight inches wide and 16 inches tall, is the “largest sculptural bulb ever made.” It’s shown here with the glossy Brass Pendant (£55), made of recycled brass in a brushed finish with a fabric-wrapped cord. The bulb costs £300, but the Voronoi III Bulb and Brass Pendant together cost £320. Tala has made a commitment since its founding to plant 10 trees for every 200 light bulbs sold. So far, they’ve planted 35,000 trees in the UK and 15,000 in North America.
Above: The Voronoi collection has a single spiral-shaped LED filament, designed to “mimic the Fibonacci sequence seen in pine cones and ferns.” The rounded, compact shape of the Voronoi I bulb refracts the light it emits, so the single filament appears more abstract than in the other Voronoi models; £80. You can shop Tala bulbs and fixtures at their online Store, and the bulbs are available at various retailers across the UK and US (including Rejuvenation and It’s Thyme). Above: Part of the company’s range of white ceramic bulbs, the Enno has a rounded trapezoid shape and is about five by seven inches; £80. It’s shown with the compact Graphite Pendant (£55), which has a flat, dark gray finish that Tala recommends partnering with the ceramic range. Above: Tala’s porcelain bulbs are molded using white glass, then individually mouth-blown and sandblasted for a delicate matte finish. They’re “designed to provide an antidote to an overly industrial aesthetic,” says Tala. The Porcelain II bulb shown here emits a soft white light and is 3 inches by 5.5 inches; £25. Above: The Unum 3-Watt Bulb (£29) has a traditional clear glass spherical body with a minimal filament inside. It’s paired with the Brass Pendant (£55) and Walnut Touch Lamp (£120), which is made from FSC-certified American walnut wood. Above: Tala designed a unique filament structure for the Gaia 6 Watt bulb—its modern take on a traditional, blown-glass, exposed-filament sphere. Available tinted (shown) and clear, it’s £39. Above: The Pluto 3 Watt light bulb has a traditional shape and filament pattern. Shown here in clear glass, it’s also available in gray and measures 1.5 by 4.5 inches; £13. For more Lighting inspiration and advice from across our sites, see:
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Or Subscribe for Maximum Value!
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Sorry! As a registered member you get 10 free posts from our archive (posts more than a year old) every 30 days. You have reached your limit for this 30-day period. If you would like to access unlimited posts from the archive (ad free, too), become a subscriber today, and keep reading as many articles as you want.
Full Access Individual Subscription
Benefits include:
Unlimited access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive the full-text daily newsletters
All features that Members have access to
Annual subscribers pay just 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Sorry! You have reached your limit of three (3) free posts from our archive every 30 days. You can increase this to 10 posts by joining as a free Member, or read unlimited posts with no ads by becoming a paid Subscriber.
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Become a Member at no charge
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Congratulations on becoming a Subscriber to Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Unlimited access to all three sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive any of the newsletters, including the the full-text daily Remodelista and Gardenista newsletters
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Congratulations on joining as a free Member of Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Access to all posts published in the past year
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
If at any time you want to become a Subscriber and enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to all our content, just go to the My Account link and choose Subscribe.
Have a Question or Comment About This Post?
Join the conversation